


Tied Up Like Two Ships

by jussell_y



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Unrequited Love, i'm horrible at tags, idk - Freeform, theres some smut, ummmm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-03
Updated: 2014-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-11 00:50:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1166638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jussell_y/pseuds/jussell_y
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Louis were close from the beginning. They met in the bathroom at their X Factor auditions and they hit it off right away. They became fast friends and decided to move in together. While living together, they started noticing new things about each other. Harry started noticing just how curvy Louis was and how he fit perfectly in Harry's side. Louis started noticing just how lean and muscular Harry was becoming and how Harry could tower over him. They were starting to let their thoughts go a little too far and neither one wanted the other to find out. They were definitely not going to let this go any farther than just a late night wank in the shower with the thoughts of what they could be doing together…right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tied Up Like Two Ships

**Author's Note:**

> Please give me feedback!!! But don't give hate, please. :D I hope you enjoy!! :D

Harry and Louis were close from the beginning. They met in the bathroom at their X Factor auditions and they hit it off right away. They became fast friends and decided to move in together. While living together, they started noticing new things about each other. Harry started noticing just how curvy Louis was and how he fit perfectly in Harry's side. Louis started noticing just how lean and muscular Harry was becoming and how Harry could tower over him. They were starting to let their thoughts go a little too far and neither one wanted the other to find out. They were definitely not going to let this go any farther than just a late night wank in the shower with the thoughts of what they could be doing together…right?

 

 

 

 

“Hey Haz!” Louis chirped from the kitchen as Harry walked through the door of their shared flat. “Hey Lou.” Harry sighed. Louis turned around from making tea to look at a very tired, worn out Harry. Harry had been out since six that morning hanging out with the people that Modest, their management, had deemed as “good for business.” One of these people was the infamous, at least in Louis’ mind, Nick Grimshaw. 

            According to Louis, and the rest of the world if you wanna know the truth, Nick had a flaming crush on the young Harold, and it absolutely killed Louis. Since Harry wasn’t his, he had to hide his jealousy and make it seem like he was the supportive best friend just so Harry would continue to tell him everything that Nick did or said that Harry didn’t agree with.

            A warm smile grew on Louis’ face and he went over to Harry. He wrapped his arms around the younger boy’s small waist, linked his hands on the small of Harry’s back, and looked up at him. 

“What’s wrong, love?” 

“I’m so tired Lou!” Harry said as he wrapped his arms around Louis’ curvy waist that Harry would love to see with lovebites all over it and laid his head on the older boy’s shoulder. “They have me doing these stupid things that I don’t wanna do at all times of the day and night. I just wanna stay home with you and watch movies and order pizza and take naps with you cuddled against me.” Both boys felt their hearts jump at what Harry had admitted. Harry’s heart jumped in fear of how Louis would react. Louis’ heart jumped because he would love to do that too.

            “Awww Haz! I’ve got an idea. Let’s just stay in tonight. Instead of going over to Liam’s like we had planned, let’s just stay here and do exactly that. Waddya say?” He looked up at the younger boy and saw the green eyes light up in the way that only happened for Louis. 

“Can we?” Harry whispered, too afraid that he might get this chance taken away from him if he spoke any louder. Louis smiled and nodded and the smile that took over Harry’s face would have split in two if it weren’t for the fact that his next move was to pick Louis up and spin him around. He gave the smaller boy the biggest hug he could ever give anyone and finally set him down. 

“You go pick out the first movie you wanna watch. I’ll finish making us tea and then we can watch a movie and order pizza a little later.” Harry ran to the living room and Louis shook his head with a fond smile on his face. 

            They watched a few movies, ordered pizza, and were watching The Notebook when it happened. Louis happened to look over at Harry who happened to already be staring at him. Louis’ heart jumped and before either boy knew what was happening, they were kissing. It was a mess. Definitely not the best first kiss, but it was certainly not the worst. They pulled apart and stared into each other’s eyes. Their breathing was the only thing that could be heard through the room. Harry couldn’t take it any longer so he broke the silence.

            “Wow.” 

 “Yeah, wow.” Louis finally took a deep breath and allowed himself to look away. He was trying to figure out what had just happened and why. He knew that he found Harry very attractive and would even wank in the shower to the thoughts of what he would let Harry do to him, but he never in a million years thought that those feelings might be reciprocated. Now, he just didn’t know. 

He turned to look back at Harry who was smiling like an idiot. Louis felt himself starting to smile, too. 

“What?” 

“I can’t believe we just did that. I mean – Lou – I’ve been thinking about doing that for the longest time. I-I understand if it was too weird for you but –” Louis surges forward and connects their lips again. This time, one of them is better prepared and the kiss actually goes a lot smoother. 

When their lips connect, Louis’ hands immediately go to Harry’s hair and he gives a slight tug, making the younger boy moan and open his mouth slightly. Louis takes the chance and slides his tongue into the space between Harry’s lips. Harry opens his mouth and gives Louis full access while pulling Louis even closer. Louis straddles Harry’s hips while their tongues fight for dominance. Louis is hovering over Harry’s crotch, not wanting to go too far this time. 

After what seemed like forever, they broke for air watching each other’s reaction. As they were catching their breath, Harry’s phone rang. He cursed and picked it up. He put it on speaker phone and Louis heard the boys yelling at them telling them to get their asses over to Liam’s. “We can’t. Haz needs some recuperating. We shall see you three wonderful boys tomorrow when we have to record. Love you!” Louis takes the phone, hangs it up, and looks into the big green eyes that always seem to be already looking at him. 

“Well, this has been interesting.” Harry slowly nods his head. They sit in an awkward silence with Louis on Harry’s lap looking into each other’s eyes. Finally, Louis gets up and sticks out a hand to help Harry up and he takes it. “Well, I think I’m gonna go take a shower. Will you watch out for the pizza?” Harry nods his head again, seemingly unable to form words at the moment. So, Louis heads upstairs to take a shower and relieve himself of the ache he is feeling in his dick. 

The pizza comes and so does Louis. The two sit and eat pizza and watch more movies together in a semi-awkward silence. Louis notices how Harry keeps glancing over at Louis like he wants Louis to do something, to make the first move. Harry notices that Louis looks like he is having a battle going on in his head and all Harry wants is to kiss Louis again, but he doesn’t wanna push anything. 

“Alright I can’t take this anymore. Haz, we gotta talk about this. What just happened?”

“Uh, we kissed. We had a pretty steamy make out session.”

“No, I mean – I – You – “

“Lou, we made out. There’s nothing else to it. Don’t read in to it, okay?”

“Okay.” _Long pause._ “Did you – um – did you enjoy it?” Louis could feel his face heating up at the question. It didn’t help when Harry looked at him like he had lost his mind.

 “Of course I did! What kind of question was that? You heard the sounds I was making and I’m pretty sure you didn’t miss the tent in my jeans, even if you didn’t feel it.” Harry looked kind of disappointed as he said that last bit. Louis noticed and he set down his pizza and crawled over to Harry. He took Harry’s pizza out of his hands and set it down on the coffee table as well. Then he swung a leg over and straddled Harry’s hips. He looked into Harry’s eyes and he saw a mixture of lust and apprehensiveness. 

This took Louis by surprise so he cupped Harry’s face with his hands and gently kissed him. It was slow and gentle at first. Then Harry tilted his head, giving Louis complete control and Louis took advantage of it. He slipped his tongue out and ran it across Harry’s bottom lip. Harry opened his mouth and Louis’ tongue darted inside to meet Harry’s tongue. Louis was moving his tongue around, trying to feel and taste every part of Harry’s mouth. He decided that they had waited long enough, and he slowly grinded down into Harry’s crotch. They both moaned loudly into each other’s mouths and their breathing became erratic. 

Harry gripped Louis’ hips tighter and started meeting Louis’ thrusts. Louis moved away from Harry’s mouth, giving the younger boy some time to breathe, and he made a trail of kisses from the boy’s mouth down his jaw. He nibbled on his ear, making Harry’s breath hitch. Then he started a trail of kisses down Harry’s neck, sucking and creating as many lovebites as he could. 

When he felt satisfied with his work, he made his way back to Harry’s mouth, and Harry kissed him hungrily. Soon, Harry was standing, holding Louis up by his bum with Louis’ legs around his waist. Harry carried them to his bedroom and he laid Louis down. They were grinding and kissing when Louis pushed Harry away. Harry looked at him, confused. 

“Haz. I don’t think this is right. I mean, we aren’t together, we aren’t fuck buddies, and I really don’t wanna do this just once and be done with you. We are in a band for crying out loud. We see each other every day and this could get really awkward if we do this just once. I’m sorry, but I’d really like to keep you.” Harry smiled because he knew exactly how Louis felt. He had thought about this before and decided on the perfect solution. 

“Well, what if we don’t do this just once? What if we did it whenever we needed or wanted it, as many times as we wanted?”

 “But Harry, we aren’t together.”

 “I know. We would be fuck buddies like you said. Or friends with benefits if that’s what you want to call it.” Louis stared at him for a second, considering all the possibilities. 

“Yeah. Yeah, alright. We can do it. Sure. Friends with benefits.” Harry smiled and leaned forward to connect their lips. It quickly became heated. Harry made quick work of Louis’ clothes and, once he had him naked, began to open him up while sucking him off. Once Louis was opened, he threw his clothes off and slowly slid in. They reached their highs pretty quickly and they ended up falling asleep, cuddled against each other. 

 

 

The next morning, Louis woke up with Harry’s arms around his waist and a head of curls cuddled against his neck. He smiled, remembering the events of last night. He remembered the way Harry felt inside of him and the way it felt to have that kind of connection with someone. To say he had missed it was an understatement. To say he truly enjoyed himself was also an understatement. He was ecstatic and couldn’t quite believe what was happening to him. He loved the possibility of being able to do this with his best mate. He could have sex all he wanted without the stress of keeping up a relationship. 

Of course, since Harry is his best mate, he would still want to make sure everything that they do is okay with him. Louis isn’t the type of guy to just “screw em and leave em.” But, there is one thing that Louis can’t help thinking about. What happens if one of them starts getting feelings for the other? Wouldn’t that be weird? 

Louis is so lost in his thoughts that he doesn’t even notice the younger boy waking up beside him. Harry opens his eyes to see Louis staring intently at the wall. Harry can tell that Louis is lost in his thoughts so, to get Louis back to Harry, he starts kissing the back of his neck, gently sucking on the skin there. He makes his way to the side of Louis’ neck when Louis finally snaps out of his reverie. 

“Oh!” Louis gasps. Harry laughs into Louis’ skin and moves the smaller boy onto his back. Harry looks into Louis’ eyes to find a sea of questions. So Harry decides to ask. “What’s on your mind, Lou?”

“Oh. Um. Well…” Harry can tell Louis is hesitating. 

“Lou. Tell me,” Harry says, a bit firmer this time.

“What if one of us ends up falling in love with the other?” 

Harry looks a little shocked, but he answers the best way he knows how. “Then we will stop. Or continue as something more. I don’t know. It depends on how the other person feels and what would be best for both of us. I’ll take care of you Lou-Lou. I always do, don’t I?” Louis nods. Harry continues, “Alright then. Just trust me, babe. And really, just let us cross that bridge when and if we get to it. So what do you say?” 

Louis looks into Harry’s eyes to see if he can find anything that says Harry is lying or has any hidden agenda. He can’t find anything so Louis says, “Yeah, let’s do it.” Louis smiles and watches as Harry’s whole face lights up. Then Harry attacks Louis with kisses and, before it can get too heated, Harry gets up. 

“So, what do you say to some pancakes for breakfast?” 

Louis laughs and jumps out of bed. “Oh Hazza. Only you could ask about pancakes after asking me if I want to be your fuck buddy.” They laugh and then put on some clothes and head downstairs. They make breakfast, which really consists of Harry making breakfast while Louis tries to distract him with nonsense questions and teasing. Their day pretty much consists of breakfast and the studio. They had to do a long day of recording which tired them out and when they got back home that night, they ended up falling asleep on the couch in each other’s arms.

One day, five months after they decided to be friends with benefits, Louis was feeling a little off. He didn’t quite know what was wrong with him, but he just figured that he was tired from the tour they just got done with. Nonetheless, he still found himself sitting on the couch in his and Harry’s flat wanting nothing more than to feel Harry’s arms around him while the younger pounds into the older, smaller boy. Louis just wants to feel safe and loved by Harry. 

Which is also a new development. Louis has been feeling things for Harry. Things that he is scared to admit, mainly because he doesn’t want this to end, but he’s also afraid that Harry won’t feel it, too. What Louis doesn’t know is that Harry has started to feel those same feelings, and Harry is just as scared as Louis. So, they haven’t said anything, but their sex has become more meaningful and they tend to take it slower sometimes. Especially times when one of them just wants to feel loved. 

Which is why Louis gets on his knees and crawls over to where Harry is sitting on the couch. Louis nudges Harry’s arm with his head and the younger boy lifts it up so Louis can cuddle beside him. Once Louis is cuddled into Harry’s side, Harry kisses Louis’ head and whispers, “Hi.” Louis just smiles at him, not really feeling like he has the energy to talk. However, that smile is what lets Harry know that Louis is needing him. Harry can always tell when Louis needs Harry, because the smaller boy somehow makes himself smaller and clings to Harry. 

“Lou. You okay?” 

“Yeah, Haz. Just – feeling a little off, is all. I think I – I – “ 

Harry knows what Louis is trying to say. Louis has never been good at asking for this, but Harry always knows what he needs. So Harry picks Louis up with ease and carries him off to the bedroom. They always go to Harry’s room when Louis is needy. Louis says it smells like Harry and it makes him feel even more safe and protected. 

Harry lays Louis down on the bed and snuggles in next to him. Harry wraps his arms around the smaller boy and looks into those blue eyes that his green ones could get lost in. Louis looks so small in Harry’s arms and Harry loves it. He loves how Louis can be almost completely hidden by his arms. 

Louis snuggles closer and has to tilt his head back to be able to look at Harry. When he does, he reaches up and places a soft kiss to Harry’s lips. This is as close to Louis actually asking Harry to have sex with him as it will ever get. Harry knows this so he takes matters into his own hands. 

Harry presses harder into the kiss and feels Louis melt against him. Then he rubs his tongue along Louis’ bottom lip and the older boy opens his mouth to give Harry full access. Their tongues dance together, not really fighting for dominance because Louis has given up any power he would normally try to keep. Louis’ submissive side is showing and Harry loves it when Louis is like this. It means that Harry can really take care of Louis just how he wants. 

The soft, gentle kiss soon becomes hungry and the boys are telling each other just how much they want this. Harry wraps an arm around Louis’ back and rolls over so he is on top. Then he starts making a trail of kisses down Louis’ jawline and marks up Louis’ neck as well. While Harry is making a particularly large lovebite on Louis’ neck, he reaches down with both hands and tugs at Louis’ shirt. He gets it up to Louis’ armpits and the smaller boy helps him get it off. Once Louis’ shirt is off and before Harry can continue his attack on Louis, Louis reaches down and tugs off Harry’s shirt. 

Once Harry is shirtless, he leans in and attacks Louis’ lips, grinding down to see how hard the older boy is. Harry can feel Louis’ hard on pressing against his own and they both moan at the contact. That sparks a fire in both of the boys and soon, they are panting just from their intense make out. Harry then starts to make his way down Louis’ chest, pausing to flick and tease Louis’ nipples with his tongue. This makes the older boy’s breathe hitch and he moans even louder. Then Harry is making his way even lower trailing kisses down, down, down, until he reaches the band of Louis’ joggers. Harry kitten-licks along the band and it makes Louis’ breathing more erratic and his jeans impossibly tighter. 

Finally, Harry is dragging Louis’ pants down with his teeth, letting his face rub over Louis’ dick that is, thankfully, not confined by underwear. Louis moans and arches his back, a move that lets Harry know he is doing a good job. Harry gets Louis out of his pants and takes a moment to fully admire the older boy. 

“Come on Haz. Stop staring. You can look later. I need you.” Louis says breathlessly. Harry laughs and moves to hover over Louis. 

“You just look so beautiful, babe. You take my breath away every time.” 

Louis blushes at Harry’s words and it makes Harry’s smile even bigger. The younger boy leans down and presses a gentle kiss to Louis’ lips. Then Harry gets up and takes off the rest of his clothes. He reaches into the bedside table and pulls out the lube and a condom and sets them on the bed. He gets back on the bed, uncaps the lube, and pours the liquid onto his fingers. He spreads it evenly and then lays down on his stomach between Louis’ legs. 

Harry spreads open Louis’ cheeks and reveals his pink hole. He takes one of his lubed fingers and circles it around the rim of Louis’ hole. Louis moans and throws his head back. Once Harry feels like he’s lubed the hole enough, he gently inserts his index finger. “Fuck, Haz. That feels so good.” 

Harry lets Louis get used to his finger and starts thrusting his finger in and out at a slow pace. The older boy is moaning and panting. “Haz. I need more.” So Harry slides in another finger and makes Louis moan. Harry’s thrusts get faster and he starts scissoring Louis open. 

That’s when Harry gets an idea. It’s something they’ve never really tried before but something he has wanted to do. It’s not a particularly big thing, it’s just new. Harry decides that now would be just as good a time as any. So, he leans in and slowly rubs his tongue along the rim of Louis’ hole while continuing his thrusts. Louis gasps and then moans and starts meeting Harry’s thrusts. This spurs Harry on and he gets his tongue inside and starts thrusting his tongue in time with his fingers. 

When Harry thinks Louis can handle it, he adds another finger and curls them inside of Louis, hitting Louis’ prostate. Louis screams Harry’s name and comes hard and unexpectedly. Harry lets Louis ride out his high and then slowly takes out his tongue and fingers. Harry looks up at the older boy who is already looking at him. 

“Fuck, Haz. What was that? Did you use your tongue?”

“Yeah. Did you like it?”

“Are you serious? I just came, untouched, by your fingers and your tongue. What do you think?”

Harry laughed at that. “I think that now I just wanna fuck you until you scream my name again. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of that.” Harry leans to hover over Louis again, being mindful of Louis’ sensitive cock. 

“Well, young Harold, I do believe I like screaming your name.” 

Harry stares into Louis’ eyes before leaning down to kiss him again. This kiss is soft and full of more love than they have let themselves feel. But, the kiss does turn heated pretty quickly and Louis is hard and ready to go again. So, Harry grabs the lube and pours a generous amount into his hand. Then he slicks up his painfully hard dick and moans at the contact. Then he leans back over Louis and positions himself at Louis’ entrance. 

Harry slowly slides the tip in and pauses to let Louis adjust. Louis nods to tell him that it’s okay to move, so Harry slides all the way in and stops to let Louis adjust. At this point both of them are panting and trying so hard to control their movements. 

“Haz. Please. Fucking move already!” Louis practically moans. So Harry pulls back until he is almost all the way out and slowly slides back in. 

“Fuck. Lou. So tight. Always so fucking tight.” Harry continues his agonizingly slow pace until neither one can take it anymore. Finally, Harry starts picking up speed and he places his forearms on either side of Louis’ face, surrounding the smaller boy. 

This is what Louis is needing. Louis loves the feeling of being completely surrounded by Harry like this. Louis can feel Harry all around him and inside of him, filling him up and he couldn’t be any happier than in this moment. Harry changes the angle of his thrusts and hits Louis’ prostate making Louis arch his back and moan loudly. When Louis arches his back, Harry wraps an arm around Louis’ waist, keeping the smaller boy flush against him. Harry continues his attack on Louis’ prostate and soon, Louis is coming again, screaming Harry’s name. Harry follows soon after and collapses on top of Louis. 

Once their breathing has slowed, Harry slowly pulls out, takes off and ties up the condom and throws it away. Then he wets a washcloth and cleans both of them off. Then he gets back in bed, wraps his arms around Louis’ waist, and pulls the smaller boy closer. 

“Thank you, Harry.” Louis only really uses Harry’s name when he is being sincere.

“It was my pleasure.” Harry answers just as sincerely as Louis had. They kiss again, but it’s slow and lazy, both of them too tired to really do anything. When they part, they smile at each other and Harry kisses Louis’ forehead and Louis kisses Harry’s collarbone. Then they slowly drift off to sleep.

And that’s how they work. When one of them is a little off or needs something, the other provides for them. However, they continue to slowly fall in love with each other and they continue to not tell each other as well. These feelings they have for one another is probably what makes their current situation so hard.

It’s been a year after they started the friends with benefits thing, and they are both completely gone for each other. Management started noticing how clingy they were towards each other and how the fans were starting to call them Larry Stylinson and saying that they were together. So Management, believing that it would be “bad for business” if Harry and Louis continued acting like that in public, decided that it would be a good idea if they just stayed away from each other while they were working. However, management took it a little too far when they decided that Louis should have a girlfriend.

Louis fought them on this. He fought with everything he had in him and most of the time, after a meeting with management, he would go back to his and Harry’s flat, totally void of all feeling. Harry would see Louis and immediately pull the smaller boy into his arms and take them upstairs so Harry could take care of his Louis. 

Of course, management won in the end. 

 

This is how Louis and Harry found themselves sitting on the couch, Louis all ready to go out on his date with Eleanor and Harry a jealous mess, even though he had no right to be. Louis could tell something was wrong with Harry and it was driving him mad not knowing. “Hazza. What’s wrong?” Louis asked as he scooted closer to the boy, wanting to try to take away the frown that seemed to be permanently placed on Harry’s face.

“Nothing, Lou. Just – I don’t understand why they are making you do this when you clearly don’t want to. I mean, what’s wrong if people think we are in a relationship?” 

“I don’t know, Haz. It’s frustrating, I know. But, we just gotta go with it. I tried. You know I tried, to get them to stop. But nothing worked. So now I have to go on this date. But, this crap storm won’t last long, right? I mean, the fans will see that we aren’t really interacting much and it’ll all blow over, right?”

Harry just nods. He really hopes Louis is right, but he knows that it probably won’t really happen the way Louis is describing. So, Louis goes out on his date, and Harry sits on the couch and watches sappy romantic movies and cries himself to sleep. 

When Louis gets back from his date around eleven, he finds Harry asleep on the couch with the credits to A Walk to Remember scrolling. Louis’ heart melts at the sight and he goes over to wake up the younger boy. When he does, he notices that Harry’s cheeks are tear stained and his eyes look puffy. He figures it’s just because of the movie, so he sits down beside Harry and gently rubs his hand up and down Harry’s back. He leans in and whispers, “Hazza. Let’s get you to bed, yeah?” Harry groans and rolls on his back. Harry looks up at Louis and smiles. Louis smiles back.

“How was your date?”

“Eh. It was alright. She’s okay, I guess. We really don’t have that much in common. At one point, I started thinking about you and what we could be doing instead of me being on that stupid date. Then it started to get hot and I had to take my thoughts away from that so I wouldn’t make a mess in the middle of the restaurant.” Louis winks at Harry and Harry giggles. Louis loves it when Harry giggles. Then Louis remembers Harry’s tear stained cheeks and asks, “So, did the movie make you cry?” Harry looks kind of confused but he remembers what movie he put in and decides to lie a bit.

“Yeah. That movie always makes me cry. You know that.”

“Indeed I do, young Harold. Indeed I do.” Louis reaches over to Harry and moves a stray curl that had fallen into the green eyes. Harry’s eyes flutter and Louis leans in and places a gentle kiss to Harry’s lips. He pulls back and smiles at the younger lad. Then he stands up and offers his hand to Harry. Harry takes the hand and they walk upstairs together. That night, they have slow, sweet sex and fall asleep in each other’s arms.

And that’s how the next year goes. Louis is sent out on dates and outings with Eleanor and Louis and Harry have to be separated at all times while they are working. When they boys get home or back to the hotel, they cuddle and spend time together and have sex. However, every outing or date that Louis has with Eleanor continues to take its toll on Harry. He gets more and more jealous and he starts feeling like he isn’t enough for Louis. Harry starts believing that Louis loves Eleanor because every time he sees them together, they are laughing and having fun. Even when the cameras aren’t around, Louis and Eleanor seem to be a normal couple. At least, that’s what Harry thinks. 

And it’s sort of true, Louis and Eleanor are having fun and they do genuinely like hanging out together, but Louis has confided in Eleanor all about how he loves Harry and wants to be with him, but management would make it even harder on them if they were together. So, Louis doesn’t do anything about it and continues to let everyone believe that they are a real couple. 

One day, however, things go too far. The boys of One Direction were in their hotel just hanging out together when Paul comes in with Eleanor. Management decided that Louis and Eleanor needed to spend more time together, so they flew her out, and now she has to spend time with all of the boys. Harry was in the bathroom when she came in and when he comes out, he finds her sitting in Louis’ lap, with Louis’ arms around her waist and his head on her shoulder. Harry immediately feels like he can’t breathe, so he grabs a bottle of water and goes outside on the balcony, where he hears the hundreds of fans screaming. 

He doesn’t really mind the screaming fans, as long as he can be away from Louis and Eleanor at the moment. Zayn follows Harry outside and joins him in watching the fans. Zayn is the first one to speak.

“So. Louis and Eleanor. Kinda weird isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“Are you okay with it?”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?” 

“Well, you two have been messing around for a good year and a half now. I just thought that maybe you wouldn’t quite be okay with it? I don’t know. Just answer the question H.” Zayn smiles at him. Harry sighs and give Zayn a half-hearted smile.

“No. I’m not okay with it. It’s been driving me nuts since it started. Zayn, I’ve fallen completely head over heels in love with him and I can’t tell him because now he has a girlfriend. And he would stop whatever it is we have. Which, that’s slowed down anyways probably because he feels guilty about it every time we do something.” Harry sits down in one of the chairs that’s on the balcony and puts his head in his hands. Zayn goes over and sits in the chair next to him and rubs his hand up and down the younger boy’s back. 

“H, you gotta tell him. Even if he doesn’t feel the same and stops whatever it is that you two have, you’ll feel so much better. Really. You gotta tell him man. If not for you, then do it for me. I hate seeing you like this. And I hate that it’s pulling you two apart.”

Harry sighs. “Yeah. I hate it too. I’ll tell him. I’ll tell him when we are back in our room tonight.”

Zayn nods and gives Harry a hug. Then he stands and goes back inside. About an hour later, Louis and Eleanor come out and sit down on the couch that’s outside. Harry goes over to the railing to give them a little more space and to try and occupy his mind. Louis goes over to him and they laugh and talk and it seems like old times. But then, Eleanor is calling Louis back over and he goes and Harry thinks he might die. When he looks back, he sees the couple kissing and his heart drops into his stomach. He looks away and tries his hardest not to cry. Later, he will see the video of this moment that one of the fans got and he will cry himself to sleep. But for now, he just goes inside and sits on the couch with Zayn and lets Zayn pull him into a cuddle. 

That night, after they have all said their goodbyes and Louis has done his time with Eleanor, Harry and Louis sit in their room and watch a movie. Harry has been trying to get the courage to tell Louis how he feels. It’s hard and Harry isn’t sure he will be able to do it when Louis pauses the movie and looks at him. 

“Alright. Something is on your mind. You aren’t cuddling with me and you look like you are having a battle up in that head of yours. What’s going on?”

Harry hesitates and Louis can tell that, whatever Harry is thinking about, is really troubling the younger lad. So, Louis scoots closer and puts his hand on Harry’s knee to reassure him.

“Come on Haz. You know you can tell me anything.

Harry pauses again before saying, “Alright. Fine. It’s just – please don’t – just – don’t – don’t say anything until I’m done, okay?”

Louis nods. Harry sighs.

“Alright. I – I’m in love with you. I have been for a while now. And I know you have a girlfriend and I know that you probably don’t feel the same and I know that we promised each other that we wouldn’t bring emotions into this but I can’t help it. I love you. I love you so fucking much. And I get so jealous when I see you with – with her. I hate it that she gets to touch you and kiss you and hug you in public and I don’t. It fucking sucks. But it’s okay, because I understand. I understand that management set you up and that you probably ended up falling for her. It’s okay. It really is. I just thought that you needed to know how I feel about you. I’m sorry if this is too weird or if it’s too much,” Harry trailed off.

There is a long silence in which they just stare at each other. Louis tries his hardest to not reach over and kiss the breath out of Harry, because Louis loves Harry too. They just can’t be together because of management and Louis thinks that Harry may not understand that and think that they can get through it anyways even though it would just end up hurting Harry and Louis can’t do anything that would hurt his Harry. So, instead of kissing Harry and making everything better, he breaks it off. 

“Harry. I’m sorry but we can’t do this anymore. I think you need to go room with Zayn or something. I just need some space. I’m sorry.”

Harry’s heart sinks at that and he feels like he can’t breathe again. He stands up, gets his things, and goes to Niall’s room because Niall was the one who normally got a room to himself. When Niall opens the door, he takes one look at Harry, grabs Harry’s bags, sets them down in his room, and pulls the younger boy into a big Niall hug. Harry tells Niall everything and Liam and Zayn end up coming over to help comfort the broken boy. 

Louis, still in his and Harry’s room, calls Eleanor to come over. She comes over and he tells her everything that happened and she comforts him. Needless to say, both boys are broken at that point. They spend the night with their confidantes and end up crying themselves to sleep, Harry in Niall’s arms and Louis in Eleanor’s. 

The next day was awkward. Harry and Louis avoided each other as much as they could. Harry sort of clung to Niall and Louis clung to Zayn, since Eleanor had left that morning. Liam went between the two to make sure everything was okay and to try to keep the band from falling apart too much. And that’s how it went. They spent their days avoiding each other as much as they could, only talking when absolutely necessary. Then, at night, Harry would go to Niall’s room and cry himself to sleep, and Louis would go to his room and cry himself to sleep. Harry ended up moving out of his and Louis’ flat when they got back from doing all of their promos. 

After Harry was settled into his new flat and was sitting in his living room trying to take his mind off of everything, he got a call from management. They wanted to meet with him and talk to him about a few things. He got up, shook himself off, and drove to Modest. The conversation consisted of them telling him that they were proud of him for moving on from Louis and that everything would be okay. Then they told him that they decided he needed to have a somewhat high profile relationship. Well, at least “be linked to another A-list celeb,” to put it in their words. They were making him have a few instances where he would be linked to Taylor Swift and, possibly, actually have a “relationship” with her. Harry was not thrilled about this, but he really didn’t have the energy to fight them, so he just agreed to their conditions and left without saying more than he needed to. 

Meanwhile, Louis was at home, sitting in Harry’s empty room crying his eyes out. He ended up calling Zayn, who came over, and Louis just cried. The poor boy was heartbroken and Zayn felt helpless. Louis was Zayn’s best friend and he couldn’t do anything to take away the pain Louis was feeling. 

A few weeks later, Louis saw the pictures. He was scrolling through twitter when he saw Harry and Taylor exiting some place he didn’t recognize holding hands. His heart sunk, and instead of actually looking at Harry’s face that would tell him all that he needed to know, he just looked at their hands that were intertwined and he ended up crying again. He thought the younger boy had moved on and found him someone else.  After he had finished crying, he got up, called Eleanor, and decided that he would go out, too. If Harry could move on, so could he. 

What Louis didn’t know is that Taylor was honestly just a publicity stunt and Harry was not falling for her. He was, however, becoming good friends with her. They did hang out when he had to go to her hotel to make it seem like he spent the night. And that’s actually how they became really good friends. 

It was another night that he had to pretend to be at Taylor’s. Taylor had ordered pizza and he was picking out a movie, because that’s what they did, when Taylor asked, “Who is he?”

Harry looked confused. “Who is who?”

“The person you’re so head over heels in love with?”

“How do you know I’m in love with someone?”

“I know the look. I’ve had the look only once but I see it every time my parents look at each other. And I see it every time you get lost in your thoughts. And it’s obviously not a girl, or else your management wouldn’t have had a problem with it. So. Who is he?”

Harry sighed. He was doing that a lot lately. “It’s Louis.”

Taylor smiled at him and, oddly enough, he smiled back. “So what happened between you two? It doesn’t really seem like you two hang out much anymore.”

“Um. Well, I told him I had fallen in love with him and he told me to get out. We were also – um – kind of – a sort of friends with benefits type thing.” Harry stammered out. 

“Oh! Wow. I’m really sorry.” And the thing is, she was genuinely sorry. Harry could tell, and this sincerity made all of the emotions he had been bottling up spill over. He started crying and Taylor went to him and comforted him. She was a genuinely nice girl and Harry hated that he couldn’t really give her any kind of relationship, but she was quickly becoming a very good friend. Which was good for him, because he needed someone outside of his normal group of friends to give him advice. But, time waits for no man. 

And now, it’s December third and One Direction is getting ready to play Madison Square Garden. Despite how Harry and Louis feel towards each other, they are still genuinely excited about this night. It’s exciting for all of the boys. 

That afternoon, the boys are backstage, getting hair and makeup done and getting ready for the show. Harry is on the couch scrolling through his Twitter and texting Taylor. Louis is sitting on the other side of the couch contemplating conversation with his distant friend, when one of Harry’s curls falls out of place that Louis so desperately wants to fix.

“Oh, young Harold. You and your curls.” Louis moves over and pulls the curl back into place. Harry is staring at Louis, his face unreadable, though his eyes flutter slightly when Louis moves the curl. Harry is shocked that Louis just spoke to him and used one of his nicknames, let alone that Louis just moved a curl back into place. Louis smiles at Harry and Harry hesitates. Then, he smiles softly and Louis can feel his insides coming back to life and the dark cloud that has been hovering over him starts to dissipate. 

“Thanks, Lou.” Louis’ stomach does a flip at the nickname. After that, Louis gets out his phone and starts scrolling through his Twitter as well. While they are sitting there in silence, Louis brings his leg closer to Harry’s and nudges Harry’s leg. It’s playful but it’s also like an apology and Harry nudges back, letting Louis know that everything is okay. So they just continue with what they were doing. 

Finally, the time comes to go onstage and they completely rocked the house. They were amazing. Harry and Louis interacted more and they were more in tune which made the rest of the boys in tune as well. When they took a picture, Louis even came to stand beside Harry and put his arms around the curly headed boy’s waist. It was one of the best nights any of them have had in a long time. 

After the concert, when they are heading backstage, Louis stops Harry and gives him a big hug. Harry immediately hugs back and both boys realize just how much they have missed this. They pull back enough to be able to walk but keep one arm around each other as they walk. The other three boys look back at them, then look at each other and smile. They know that they are getting their Larry back. 

A few days after the MSG performance, when they are all back in the UK, Louis calls Harry up.

“Hello?”

“Hey Haz! How are you?”

Harry is shocked. Louis just called him. “Hey, Lou. I’m good. You?” 

“I’m good. So, I was thinking. We should hang out. Like you could come over and we could watch movies and order pizza, or whatever. Whaddya say?”

“Um. I wish I could but I kinda made plans with Nick already.”

Louis rolls his eyes and feels his heart sink. “Oh.”

“But what about tomorrow? I’m free tomorrow.”

Louis perks up at that. “Uh, yeah. Sure. Tomorrow’s good.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah.”

There’s an awkward silence, since neither one knows what to say. Louis starts feeling so much all at once and he feels like he needs to say something.

“Haz?”

“Yeah, Lou.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For pushing you away like I did.”

Harry clears his throat. “It’s fine, Lou. Really. It is. I understand.”

 _No, you really don’t,_ Louis thinks. But, he doesn’t let Harry know that. “You’re such a wonderful friend, Haz. I’m sorry I was such a douche. I’ve really missed you.”

Harry’s stomach does flips. “I’ve missed you too, Lou. But, uh, I gotta go. Is it alright if I text you later?”

Louis laughs. “Of course it is, you doof! Have fun with dick – I mean Nick.”

Harry rolls his eyes but it’s fondly. “Oh Lou. You and your personal vendetta against Nick. What do you have against him anyways?”

“Oh, nothing really. He just, kinda, takes something away from me every once in a while. Something very precious to me. Something that I love with all my heart.” Louis’ voice started to get really soft at the end and Harry noticed. 

“What is it Lou? What does he take?”

Louis realizes what he just said and decides to be vague with his answer. “Oh, just something. Nothing to worry about Haz.”

            Harry knows Louis is acting odd, but decides not to push it. “Alright. Well, I’ll talk to you later. Bye!”

            “Bye!” Louis puts his phone down on the coffee table and thinks about how he just almost told Harry how he feels about him. Then he shakes his head to clear it and makes himself some tea. He already ordered take and puts on a movie when he gets a text from Harry.

From: Hazza

Hey Lou! x.

Louis smiles. It’s just like Harry to put a kiss at the end of every text. 

To: Hazza

Hey Haz! Whats up?

It’s only a few seconds later when he gets the next text.

From: Hazza

Nothin really. Nick is making me go to this club. You know how I hate clubs.

Louis laughs because even though the media makes it seem like Harry is a playboy and a party animal, Louis knows that Harry would rather spend a night in.

To: Hazza

Haha! I know. He’s just trying to get in your pants. ;)

From: Hazza

Ha! Please. Even if he was trying, which he isn’t, he wouldn’t succeed.

To: Hazza

Oh really?

From: Hazza

Really. x

            So pretty much the whole night they were texting while Harry was supposed to be enjoying his night with Nick. Louis ends up falling asleep, missing Harry’s texts. The next morning, he wakes up to a good morning text from Harry. He replies and starts to prepare himself for that night. Harry is coming over and Louis wants everything to be perfect. Even though they aren’t together, Louis wants to impress. 

            When night comes and Harry arrives, they order pizza and put in a movie. It’s kind of awkward at first, but they push through and start to easily go back to their old selves. They laugh, eat, and have a wonderful time. Harry leaves and both boys feel on top of the world. 

            That’s how they became friends again. Things seemed back to normal. Things were back to normal. Even the fans had noticed that they were back to their old selves. However, Harry was still just as much in love with Louis, if not more, as he ever was. And Louis was still in a relationship with Eleanor. And management still didn’t want Harry or Louis coming out, so they still pushed the Elounor and Haylor relationships. Which is why Harry now found himself forced to go on a vacation with Taylor.

            They had just arrived at their destination and were getting unpacked, when Louis texted Harry. 

From: Lou

Hey Haz! x. How was the flight?

Harry smiled. He hadn’t expected a text from Louis.

To: Lou

Oh, you know. Boring as usual. 

From: Lou

Ha! Of course. How’s what’s her name?

To: Lou

You know her name. But she’s good. She’s unpacking. 

From: Lou

I know her name. Doesn’t mean I have to use it.

To: Lou

Are you jealous?? x. 

From: Lou

No! Why would I be?

To: Lou

Oh, Idk. 

From: Lou

Well, have fun on your vacation. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. x.

To: Lou

Thanks!

            Harry put his phone on the charger and went downstairs. Taylor was in the kitchen making coffee. 

            “Hey! You want some coffee?”

            “Sure. Thanks.”

            “What’s wrong? You look like you have something on your mind.”

            Harry sighs. “I just wish it would be easier to get over him, you know?”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “And the bad thing is, we are talking and he is flirting and it’s making me so fucking confused!”

            “You should talk to him. I mean like really talk to him. Like, ask him why he cut it off and all that. You know?”

            “Yeah. I guess I should. But I would want to do that in person.”

            “And you should probably do it soon.”

            “Yeah. But I’m stuck here.”

            “Well, why don’t we get you unstuck?”

            “How?”

            “Well, we could make it look like we broke up.”

            “Um. How would we do that?”

            “Well, I could just storm out with my stuff and fake cry so it looks like it’s all real.”

            “You would do that?”

            “Of course! And don’t worry about your management. I’ll talk to them.”

            Harry goes over to Taylor and hugs her. “When do you wanna do it?” 

            “Well, how about we have some coffee, eat a sandwich, and then I’ll go pack up my things and leave.”

            “Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much!”

            “You’re welcome. Just promise me you’re gonna go after your man.” She smiles at Harry and he laughs.

            “I will. I promise. But I’ll probably have to stay here to make it look good.”

            “Yeah. Probably.”

            So they drink their coffee, eat a sandwich, Taylor leaves, and the media has a field day with it. 

            Harry stays a little longer, and all of his doings are captured by his friends via twitter. When he does leave, he goes back to the UK and heads over to Louis’ house. When he gets there, he goes up to the door and knocks. Louis opens it and when he realizes that Harry is at his door, he is a little shocked but happy to see him. Louis invites Harry in and they sit on the couch, with Louis on one end and Harry on the other.

            “Well, young Harold. I didn’t expect to see you today. I thought you were still on your vacation with blonde freak.”

            Harry rolls his eyes but he sees something in Louis’ that he only really ever sees when something is bothering the older boy. “We decided to take matters into our own hands and break it off. It was all for management anyway.”

            Louis looks shocked by this. He had no idea that management had put Harry in a fake relationship, too. “Really? You – you mean it was a fake relationship? You didn’t actually like Taylor?”

            Harry is slightly taken aback. “Uh – yeah. You didn’t know?”

            “No. I didn’t. No one told me.”

            “Oh.”

            “But what about the New Year’s kiss? That looked real to me.”

            Harry laughed. “No. It was probably the worst kiss in the history of bad kisses. And it was way too fake. So not real.”

            “Oh. So it was all management’s doing?”

            “Well, yeah. It was just a PR stunt, really.”

            There’s an awkward silence after this where the two boys are lost in each other’s eyes and their own thoughts. Louis breaks the trance first. “So, what did you come here for?”

            “Oh. Um. Well, I wanted to tell you something.” Harry looks at his hands and his heart starts pounding in his ears. 

            “What is it?” Louis moves closer to the younger boy and puts his arm around Harry’s shoulder.

            “I – um – I.” Harry sighs, trying to calm himself down. “I’m still in love with you.” Harry says as he looks directly into Louis’ blue eyes. 

            Louis’ face is blank, unreadable as Harry tries to understand what the older boy is feeling. After what seems like years, Louis says, “Harry, we can’t do this. We can’t – you can’t be in love with me. It’s not a good idea.”

            Harry is confused. “What? What do you mean it’s a bad idea? I think it’s a good idea. Hell. I think it’s the best idea I’ve ever had and by the way you were flirting and how things were before, when we were still friends with benefits, I thought that you felt the same. Tell me, Louis. Do you have any feelings for me? Do you love me?”

            Louis is torn. On one hand he wants to tell Harry that, yes, he loves him so much it actually physically hurts sometimes, but on the other hand he wants to protect Harry from any pain that management would probably cause them just because they were together. And no matter how hard Louis tries, he really just wants to protect his Hazza. So. “Yeah, Haz. I do love you. As a friend. And what we had – we were just fooling around. I’m sorry. But I don’t love you like that.” 

            “But Louis.”

            “No, Hazza.”

            “Louis, we can –”

            Louis cuts him off and, knowing that what he is going to say next will probably hurt, he says it anyway because a moment of pain is better than months, maybe years of it. “Harry, I love Eleanor. I’m in love with her, as crazy as that sounds. So, please. Just – for me, will you please just get over me and find someone that loves you? Please?”

            Harry felt his whole world crash. He nodded his head, unable to speak for fear of letting out all the tears he was so desperately trying to hold back. He got up and started walking towards the door, not even so much as glancing at the boy he loved so much. 

            Louis, in a desperate attempt to salvage something of their friendship, reached out and grabbed Harry’s wrist, causing the younger boy to stop, but not turn around. “Haz. Look at me.” Harry didn’t turn around so Louis begged, “Please. Please, Haz. Turn around.” 

            It took Harry a second, but he did eventually turn around and when he did, he saw a vulnerability in Louis that he had never seen before. His heart melted and he pulled the smaller boy into his arms and held him there. They both let out the tears they were holding back and sobbed into each other’s shoulders. 

When their crying had stopped, they pulled back. Harry reached up and cupped Louis’ face with his left hand. Louis leaned into it and closed his eyes. Harry knew he wouldn’t have the strength to say what he was about to say any other time, so he took his chance. “Lou, I love you. And I always will love you. But I can’t sit here and act like I want to be nothing more than your best friend, when all I want is to reach over and touch you, kiss you, and just hold you.” Harry paused to keep himself from crying. Louis could feel the tears coming back and he could see Harry’s eyes starting to glaze over with unshed tears. 

Harry continued. “I can’t pretend like seeing you with her doesn’t make my heart physically ache from jealousy. I can’t pretend like I don’t want to be in her position. I can’t pretend like I don’t want to be the one you’re in love with, the one who you wake up to in the morning. I can’t do this Lou. And I don’t want to just be friends with you. That hurts more than anything. I love you. But I can’t do this. Please don’t call me, text me, or have any kind of contact with me unless it’s work related. I’m sorry Lou.”

And with that, Harry walked out of Louis’ life. Louis collapsed on the floor and let out all of the tears he had kept in. He felt completely and utterly crushed that he had just lost his best friend. He couldn’t hardly see straight and he felt nauseous. He just laid down on the floor, curled into a ball, and wept until he was so exhausted that he fell asleep. 

Harry wasn’t much different. He managed to drive home without crashing, but as soon as he walked in the door and made it to his bedroom, he crashed on the bed and cried himself asleep. He didn’t sleep well either. He was tossing and turning and he kept waking up every hour. It was a rough night and the next day wouldn’t be any better because the next day, he would have to see Louis for tour rehearsals. Harry wasn’t too excited about this, but he tried to get as much sleep as he possibly could.

Morning came, no matter how hard Harry tried to make it stop. He reluctantly got up, got dressed, ate a piece of toast, and went to the rehearsals. When he got there, he found that he was the last one to arrive. He was greeted warmly by everyone on their team, and he quickly found Niall. 

Niall already knew everything that happened, since Louis had told them already. So, when the Irishman saw Harry, he gave the taller boy a big Niall hug. While they were hugging, Niall whispered in his ear, “I’m here for ya if ya ever need ta talk.” Harry smiled, thanked him, and pulled back. They were called over by their choreographer and Harry and Louis’ eyes met. Harry saw that Louis’ eyes were red and puffy and it looked like the Doncaster lad hadn’t got much sleep. Louis noticed the same about Harry. But, nevertheless, they avoided each other at all cost.

And that’s pretty much how the tour started, as well. Harry and Louis weren’t talking and Harry could hardly stand to be in the same room as Louis for more than five minutes. On stage, Harry did try to make it seem like nothing was wrong and he interacted with Louis but still kept his distance as much as he could.

Honestly, the only one that was keeping the two apart was Harry. Louis had tried, during the rehearsals, to make up with Harry and to hopefully reestablish their friendship. But, his efforts proved pointless as the curly headed boy wouldn’t even so much as glance at him. Louis was a mess without Harry, and it wasn’t getting any better.

It was about their fifth week into the tour when Zayn had had enough of Harry and Louis. After their gig, Zayn went to Louis’ hotel room to hopefully put some sense into the older boy’s head. 

When he got to the room and knocked on the door, Louis opened it and Zayn saw just how broken the boy was over this situation. Louis’ eyes were puffy and red and his cheeks were pale and tear stained. His hair was a mess and it looked like Louis hadn’t eaten in quite a while. Or gotten a good night’s sleep in even longer. 

Zayn pulled Louis into a hug and the older boy just cried. Eventually, Zayn walked them into Louis’ room and sat them down on the sofa. Louis’ sobs had turned into sniffles, so Zayn figured it was okay to speak.

“So. You wanna tell me just what the hell is wrong with you?”

Louis looked up at him and Zayn’s heart almost broke at the sight. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you love Harry and this is the second time that you’ve done this to him. To yourself. So spill. Why do you keep pushing him and your happiness away?”

Louis looked confused. “My happiness?”

“Yes. We all know that you love him and we all know that both of you would be so much happier if you were together. So talk.”

Louis sighs. “Alright. Fine. You know that management set me and Eleanor up, right?” Zayn nods. “Okay. Well, they did that thinking that me and Harry would stop having sex and just be friends. Well, when they found out that even a fake relationship couldn’t stop me and Harry, they told me to break it off with him or else they would do everything in their power to make him suffer. They would do things like keep him away from his family during holidays, use him to promote things that Harry would be absolutely against, and they would make sure that we never saw each other. And if they had to, they would just kick him out of the band.”

Zayn was completely shocked. He never knew that management would go to such lengths just to keep something from happening. 

Louis continued. “What’s worse is, the same day they told me this, was the same day that Harry told me he loved me. I saw that as an opportunity to break it all off and keep Harry from getting hurt like that. So, yeah, I may have pushed Harry away and he took my happiness with him, but I did it to protect him. And I hate that he doesn’t know, but if he did, he would try to convince me otherwise and I just – I can’t say no to him.” 

Zayn sat there for a second, letting everything sink in. Then he remembered something that he had learned early on in their career. It was back when everything was new and he was worried that any of them could be kicked out of the band. He had went to Simon to ask him if their management could kick anyone out. Simon had sat down and shown him the exact place in their contract where it said that no one except Simon was allowed to kick anyone out of the band. Zayn was relieved when he found that out, and now he was glad that the boys had such a good relationship with their boss. 

“Lou, they can’t kick Harry out of the band.”

Louis looks at him incredulously. “What? Of course they can. They’re our management, Zayn. They have control over us.”

“Okay. They may be able to make us do all sorts of crappy stuff and tweet horrible things from our accounts, but they can’t kick us out of the band. Only Simon has that power.”

“How do you know this?”

“Well, back before we had even released What Makes You Beautiful, I was a little scared that our management would eventually kick someone out because I knew just how crazy some of us could be at times. So, I went to Simon and asked him about it. He showed me the place in our contract where it says that no one except him can kick us out.”

Louis sat there feeling relief washing over him. He was so thankful that Zayn knew this, but now he had to get Simon to help him get management to calm down with the Larry thing, and, the hardest part of all, he had to get Harry back. Needless to say, Louis felt a little overwhelmed. “So, what do I do now? I mean, I want to be with Harry, but he really isn’t talking to me right now, and I know that Simon would help us if we were an ‘us.’ You know?”

Zayn nodded. “Well, I guess you just gotta woo Harry. You know he’s a sap. Actually, you know him better than he knows himself. Use that. Use your knowledge of all things Hazza to get him back to you.”

Louis laughed. It was the first genuine laugh, or smile, that he had felt in a while. He sat there for a second, thinking about ways he could get his boy back. Then, “I’ve got it. But I’m gonna need your help. And we should really call the other boys to help with this too. I’m gonna need Hazza distracted for a bit. You think Niall can do that without getting him drunk?”

Zayn laughs because they all know the only way that Niall can distract anyone is by getting at least one of them drunk. “I think he would do it just for you.” Zayn smiles fondly at Louis and Louis smiles back. 

“Let’s get started.”

They start with calling Liam and Niall. Louis asks where Harry is, and Niall tells him that Harry is taking a shower and will probably watch some sappy movie, because that’s what he has been doing since the tour started. So, they all go to Louis’ room and they plan everything out. 

Meanwhile, Harry gets out of the shower, dries off, and puts on his boxers. He walks out of the bathroom and notices that Niall is gone, but there’s a note on his bed that says 

_Went downstairs for a drink. I’ll be back. Eventually. Wait up for me. I wanna talk to you about something._

_Love,_

_Nialler xx_

Harry laughs and throws the note away. He grabs the duvet from the bed, wraps it around him, grabs some snacks from the mini bar, and sits on the sofa to watch a movie. He is in the middle of the second movie when Niall finally comes back. 

“Hey man! Did you have fun?”

“Yeah. I did.”

“Didn’t get too drunk, did ya?”

Niall laughs. “Of course not, you idiot. Now get on some clothes. I want you to come with me.”

Harry groans but he gets up anyways and gets dressed. He follows Niall to the stairwell where they climb to the top. Niall stops in front of the door to the rooftop and gets his phone out of his pocket. He checks it and says, “Oh man. Liam just texted me. Apparently Zayn is wasted. You go on out. It’s gorgeous out there. I’m gonna go help Li put Zayn to bed and then I’ll be back.”

“Okay. Have fun! And take pictures. I wanna see wasted Zayn.”

Niall laughs and heads down the stairs. Harry shakes his head with a fond smile on his face. He honestly doesn’t know what he would do without those three. He doesn’t allow his mind to go Louis. He hasn’t let it go there since the night after their first tour rehearsal. He thinks it’s for the best. So, he opens the door and goes out onto the rooftop. He looks across the skyline and thinks Niall was right. It’s absolutely gorgeous up here. As he is admiring the view, his vision gets blocked by two small hands. He knows those small hands. It’s Louis. 

His heart starts to pound in his chest like it always does when he’s around Louis. He’s also confused as to why the older boy is out here. But now he feels Louis’ breathe on his neck and he can’t quite think straight. 

Louis whispers in his ear, “I know the past few months have been one hell of a ride, and I know that you’re still trying to avoid me, but just listen to me and do what I say and if you haven’t changed your mind by the end of this, then I’ll never bother you again. I promise. So. Will you keep your eyes closed for me?”

Harry hesitates for a second and Louis thinks he might say no, but then Harry is nodding his head yes and Louis is removing his hands from Harry’s eyes. Harry keeps his eyes closed and feels Louis take his hands and guide him. When they reach wherever they were going, Louis tells Harry to open his eyes. 

When Harry opens his eyes, he sees a table with two chairs, candles that are lit, and the first meal that Louis ever made is on two plates. The first meal that Louis ever made, Louis had made especially for Harry. The day before, Louis had had to go on a date with Eleanor, which meant he had to ditch the plans he had made with Harry. Louis felt awful about it. So, the next day, Louis decided to cook for Harry. That whole night was filled with gentle kisses, soft touches, and it ended with slow, very emotional sex. In other words, that meal represents the moment that Harry knew he was in love with Louis. 

So, seeing that Louis had gone through so much trouble to make it again, he turned to look at the boy. Louis looked nervous. The Doncaster lad kept moving his fringe out of his face and was rocking back and forth slightly. Harry decided to ask him something. “What’s this about?”

Louis looked up at him. “Um. Well, I’m trying to apologize. And, um. There’s something I want to tell you, but I wanted to tell you after we ate.” Louis shifts nervously. His heart his pounding and he feels like he can’t breathe, but Louis is determined to do this. He loves this tall, curly headed boy standing in front of him. 

Harry lets out the breath he had been holding. “Okay. Well, let’s eat, then.”

Louis looks hopeful at that. Harry goes over to the table and, before he can pull out his chair, Louis pulls it out for him and makes sure Harry is comfortable before he goes over to his seat. Harry is really confused by all of this but doesn’t want to push it. 

“So. Haz. What’s up?”

“Lou, I know you don’t like small talk, so you don’t have to say anything.”

“I know, I know. But I’m trying here. Indulge me, will you?”

Harry laughs and Louis feels his heart flutter. He could get used to hearing Harry’s laugh for the rest of his life. 

“Alright. Well, nothing really. Except, I’m starting to think that this was all planned and that, somehow, the other three had something to do with it as well. Am I right?”

Louis laughs and nods his head. “You’re right. I called them all over to my room and we planned this.”

Harry raises his eyebrow. “Why? What’s all this for?”

Louis sighs but smiles fondly. “You must be patient, young Harold. Good things come to those who wait.”

Harry smiles. “Alright, alright. I’ll wait.”

Their meal goes pretty perfectly. They laugh and smile and Louis really hopes this ends well. When they are done with their meals, including dessert, Louis takes Harry’s hand and leads him to the side of the building. 

“So. Lou. Are you gonna tell me why you did all of this?”

Louis sighs. He is so nervous he feels like his heart might jump out of his chest. Louis turns to face Harry and as he looks up into those green eyes, he feels like everything is going to be okay. He can see the love that Harry feels for him reflected in those green eyes and Louis feels like he can fly. 

Without saying a word, Louis surges forward and kisses Harry. Harry hesitates for just a second, mainly from shock, but he starts kissing Louis back. It’s not a particularly heated kiss, but it has everything that both boys have bottled up flowing through it. The love that they kept hidden is felt in that one kiss. 

Louis pulls back because, as much as he just really wants to keep kissing Harry, he really needs to explain. He looks into Harry’s eyes and feels that confidence he felt earlier. “Harry. I brought you up here to tell you why it’s a bad idea for us to be together.”

Harry’s smile fades from his face and his eyes look dull. He completely lets go of Louis and Louis really just wants to be back in his arms and take away the younger boys pain. “Alright. Explain.”

Louis sighs. “It’s a bad idea because management doesn’t want us to be together. If we do get together, management will do everything in their power to keep us apart. They will try to ruin our relationship by making you go on dates and making me stay with Eleanor. They will try to do so much crap just to cause you pain and I can’t let that happen.”

Harry just knows that Louis is about to hurt him even more. He just knows that there is nothing good that come out of this conversation.

“But…” Louis takes a step forward and Harry looks hopeful and worried at the same time.

“But, I think that, no matter what, we can make it through anything. Haz, these past few weeks have been shitty. I haven’t eaten much because I just don’t have the energy. I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since that night you told me to leave you alone. Haz, I can’t live without you. I need you more than I have needed anyone. So, even though it makes no sense for me to be with you knowing that management is just going to try to break this up, I want to try. I want to try because I honestly don’t believe that anything will change my feelings for you. And I promise you that I will be there every step of the way. And I will make damn sure that you don’t have to go through more than what’s necessary. And I will always be there to take the pain away. I promise. As long as you are by my side, Haz, I know that I can do anything. I can endure anything. I love you. So fucking much. So…what do you say?”

Harry looks into Louis’ eyes and sees just how hopeful this boy is. Harry can also see just how much Louis really means what he said. It takes his breathe away to know that Louis really does love him as much as he says. But there’s one thing that keeps nagging at the back of his mind. “What about Eleanor?”

Louis’ smile fades and he looks confused. “What about her?”

“You told me you loved her. You said that you never loved me and that you loved her.”

Louis understands and he puts his arms around Harry’s neck and feels the taller boy tense up. “Babe, I never loved her. It’s still really awkward with her. And I only told you that because I felt like that was the only way to get you to move on and protect you from the wrath of management. I’m sorry I ever said that. I never meant it. I promise. I love you and only you.”

Harry could see it in Louis’ eyes that he meant it. Harry felt his heart quicken and his stomach was doing flips. “Okay.” 

Louis looks up at him, hope in his eyes. 

“But, you gotta ask me, Lou. I’m not that easy.” Harry has a cheeky grin on his face and Louis swears he could literally jump off this building and soar. 

“Harry Edward Styles. Will you please be my boyfriend?”

“Well, since you said please. Yeah. I guess I’ll be your boyfriend.” Harry still has that cheeky grin on his face. 

Louis raises an eyebrow but he still can’t stop the smile from lighting up his whole face. “Oh. You guess you’ll be my boyfriend?”

Harry laughs. “Oh. Just kiss me you fool.”

Louis smiles and obliges the curly headed boy. This kiss is pure bliss and both boys are on cloud nine. They can’t believe just how lucky they are to have found each other. 

They end up making love that night. And that morning. And maybe that afternoon, in the bathroom of whatever building they’re in. They deal with management and everything is alright. They know they can make it through anything. Because. Well. 

They make each other strong.


End file.
